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When I told my next door neighbor in May of 2008 that I was going to sell the house along with all of my personal possessions and move to Chiclayo Peru with my Peruvian wife, his response was..” That’s a path not many men walk.” I had that impression as well, but have since learned that many men and women have walked and continue to walk that path. There is a large expatriate community in Lima and a significant number of gringos scattered about the remainder of the country from the larger coastal cities to the smallest jungle villages. Many of them have personal blogs in which they offer travel advice, news, and a wealth of other information along with their individual experiences. The purpose of this blog is not so far reaching. My intent is simply to record my experiences and observations for family, friends and anyone else who may be interested, but mostly for myself. Peru is to me a musical, magical land and I’ve found that writing about it helps me to preserve the beauty I experience as I explore this enchanting country. Anyway, thanks for visiting my site. Feel free to come back again, and leave a comment if you’d care to or send an email to me at kaetan1@gmail.com.

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Wednesday, December 28, 2016

...you can find it in Moshoqueque. Moshoqueque is like a
small city inside Chiclayo that is dedicated mostly to selling food. In terms
of size it dwarfs Chiclayo’s famed mercado modelo. To someone not accustomed to
third-world farmer markets it is blocks and blocks of absolute bedlam.

Moshoqueque awakens at about 3:30 AM when farmers begin converging
on the site with trucks full of produce and livestock. And there are buyers
there to greet them at that hour. Many of the buyers have kiosks on the spot to
resell whatever they buy. Other shoppers are from small grocery stores in
Chiclayo, or come from small villages miles away. These people are buying for
their families, but also probably sell to neighbors much of what they purchase. It’s worth it to get up at that time and to travel some distance; prices in
Moshoqueque for a comparable food item can be as much as half of what it would
cost in a store.

Streets in the area that were once asphalt paved now look like
scarred battlefields. Wondering the aisles through rows of kiosks crammed with
people is at first awkward, but there is a rhythm to the traffic and once found
walking is manageable.

Many of the kiosks are selling identical items, with only a
slight variance in price. There are sections where a particular product is dominant,
for instance fish or meat. And there is a section of several square blocks where
livestock is sold. Here you can buy live chickens, turkeys, ducks, rabbits,
sheep, pigs, goats, calves and I don’t know what else. Only the calves were
allowed to stand. The sheep, pigs and goats were lying on their sides with
their legs tied. If you don’t want to kill the animal yourself, there are men
nearby who will kill and clean it for you. These men are very aggressive and
will be in your face the moment you stop to look at an animal.

We were in Moshoqueque this morning in search of a ham. We
were not able to locate a cured ham anywhere in Chiclayo so decided that a
fresh ham would have to do. We were told that many vendors in Moshequeque sold
fresh hams at half the price of a Tottus or Plaza Vea supermarket, and that
turned out to be true.

The ham that Antonio is holding weighs 8.8 lbs and cost
$14.30, or $1.63 per lb. The Plaza Vea price was $2.97 per pound. Curiously, Antonio
does not buy pigs from the farmers who deliver to Moshoqueque, but instead buys
from a farmer in Morrope, because he says the meat is tender with better
flavor. He doesn’t kill his pigs, instead hiring a man to do it.

Our New Year’s Eve
dinner, traditionally eaten at midnight will not be the ham I’m accustomed to. It
won’t have the red color or the smoky, salty taste. It will be what amounts to
a pork roast, but hopefully with cloves, pineapple slices and a honey glaze it
will satisfy us and the rest of the family, who don’t know what a cured ham
tastes like anyway.

Friday, December 23, 2016

...for achieving your degree in business administration. It
probably seems to you as if it took forever to reach the point in life you are
at now. To your mother and for a shorter time me, it was the blink of an eye.

Your mother remembers attending your kinder graduation as
if it were yesterday. You were five, and probably didn’t have much of an idea
what the ceremony was about, but to her it was the accomplishment of your first
educational milestone. And like all mothers, she was proud of “her Brian” and
had thoughts and dreams of your future success.

I was here for your grade school graduation and vividly
remember you proudly escorting your mother up the stairs to the second-floor
ballroom, to be formally presented to the other graduates and their families.

I didn’t know at the time that you had been elected ‘mayor’
of your graduating class, so was surprised when you stood to make a speech.
There you were; microphone in hand scanning the audience as you spoke, as if this
was something you did every day. I told your mother that I was impressed with
the way you conducted yourself the entire evening, and that you probably had
the tools to be very successful. She already knew that.

Last Saturday your mother and I and other members of your
family attended your college graduation party. I can’t begin to estimate the
number of people who were there, certainly in the high hundreds. I do know there
were dozens of professors, other graduates and friends who stopped at our table
to speak with you and share your and their happiness.

It was fun watching the hundreds of young graduates, all
dressed to the nines dancing, drinking, and laughing. You and they certainly
earned this party. It’s been a tough four years at a top-rated university that
has a reputation for being demanding.

In May your formal
cap-and-gown graduation takes place. We’ll be there to applaud your triumph.
You did it Brian…you did it! We’re proud, and we hope you are too.

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

This is Pablo the pavo. He was given to us by the folks
from the village of Los Bances. He is now living on our roof. While that is not
unusual, most people don’t have a turkey living on their roof, even in
Chiclayo, but as the holiday season approaches, the roof-top turkey population soars.
Many Peruvians who don’t raise their own turkeys prefer to buy them alive,
because they know what the bird has eaten in its last days; usually corn and
lettuce, and that it was fresh.

There are two kinds of turkeys in Peru…black and white.
Whites are raised for their meat on large scale turkey farms. They are mostly
sold in the frozen food sections of supermarkets. Pablo is a black, which means
he was raised in semi-wild conditions, often having to fend for himself in
terms of food and shelter, though his owner would provide just enough food to
keep him in the area. As a result blacks are thin and tough to eat. Peruvians
prefer blacks because they say the flavor is better.

Gobbling and peeping turkeys are sort of the unofficial
Christmas carolers in Chiclayo. Walking the streets, especially in the early
morning is a treat if you like turkey music. Our turkey doesn’t gobble. He
peeps a lot. That’s because he is not quite full grown. Unfortunately for Pablo
his time to grow is limited. On the morning of the 24th Pablo will
bid the world goodbye. There is no hope for a presidential reprieve.

Pablo doesn’t know his time is limited, and even if he
did he probably wouldn’t react. Turkeys seem to me to be pretty stupid. You can
pick them up and they don’t do anything. People walking downtown selling
turkeys usually have two in each hand, held upside down by the legs. The
turkeys bend their necks so that they can see things right side up, which looks
really comical, but that’s the only thing they do, seemingly not concerned with
their circumstances.

You can take them in a vehicle – car, combi, taxi or mototaxi
(shown) and they sit quietly, as if enjoying the ride. When in a vehicle
though, you need to have them wrapped. Turkeys are fierce poopers. I mean,
pooping is something they are really good at, second only to eating. Most vehicle
drivers won’t transport an unwrapped turkey, and if they do you probably don’t
want to ride in that vehicle.

At midnight on
December 25th Pablo will once again be the center of attention. More
precisely he’ll be in the center of a platter, surrounded by empanadas, sweet
potatoes and other items that have given their all for the cause. Thank you
Pablo.

Monday, December 19, 2016

We didn’t miss a beat this morning when our transport
phoned 30 minutes before our scheduled 9:00 AM departure to tell us that he
couldn’t make it. Living in Chiclayo you learn that things like that are
normal. Two days before we had discussed that possibility and had plan B and
plan C in place if necessary. Plan B worked just fine.

Our first stop was Alto Peru where we unloaded all the
items for their chocolatada including the entertainers, and then proceeded to
Los Bances where Martha, the kids and parents were waiting for us. The
classroom is so small that there was barely room for the things we brought. The
chocolatada meal was to be eaten in some other location. We stayed just long
enough for the parents and kids to see and appreciate the items we delivered,
and to listen to some speeches. The good news is that Martha will have a
different, larger classroom next year for her 20 students. When she asked about
the possibility of Promesa Peru helping with some additional furniture we told
her to call us when the new term begins next March.

On our way out Martha presented us with a live turkey on
behalf of the parents association in appreciation for our earlier donations and
the chocolatada. That is a kingly gift in Peru, where a live mature turkey
sells for a minimum of $40. On the combi ride back to Chiclayo the turkey was
mostly tranquil; peeping only occasionally. The other passengers didn’t pay any
attention to it.

The cost for the Los Bances chocolatada was:

Toys - $23.47

Paneton – 29.33

Candy – 20.41

Transportation – 12.48

Total - $85.69

Back at Alto Peru everything had been unpacked and
organized. The ‘Chikidalinas’ entertained for an hour. Perhaps it was because
there were more of them, but these kids were even more energetic than those at
El Carmen last Friday.

As usual the men and older villagers did not attend, but
many of them could be seen watching from a distance. And some were seemingly not
interested at all; just going about their normal business.

The traditional meal was served after the entertainers
had finished. The chicken had an especially delicious flavor to it. I’m told
the flavor came from a special marinade.

The kids were a bit reserved when receiving their toys.
We suspect that was because their mothers had told them to conduct themselves
properly. We’ve noticed that discipline in these remote villages is a concept
that is strongly enforced and followed.

The Alto Peru
chocolatada cost:

Toys - $110.00

Paneton – 33.83

Candy – 11.77

Entertainment – 52.86

Transport – 30.25

Total - $238.71

Both the Los Bances and Alto Peru chocolatadas were made
possible by Chris Raupe, “a friend in America”, Amy Brown, Denny Wallette and
others. Thank you.

The completion of these chocolatadas today will mark the
end of Promesa Peru’s activities for this year. It’s been a good year. We’re
looking forward to 2017.

Friday, December 16, 2016

Every time we’ve been in the village of El Carmen, the
teacher, parents and kids have been enthusiastic and energetic. Today the
energy level was at maximum.

The Chikidalinas are a mother-daughter team who have been
performing at a variety of activities for a few years. They are very good at
relating to younger kids in the three to five age range. They led the kids
through dances, songs and games. The kids had never played musical chairs and
at first didn’t understand the object, but when they realized what the goal
was, and that a prize would be awarded the competition got fierce. Actually,
every kid who took part in the activities received a prize.

After an hour, when the kids and Chikidalinas ran out of
gas (it was hot in that room!) we all sat down to the traditional chocolatada
meal…hot chocolate, chicken, empanadas and paneton. As usual it was finger-lick´n good.

We had to leave before the toys were handed out because
the Chikidalinas had another engagement, however the toys had been unpacked
earlier and every kid in that room knew exactly what was there and which one
they wanted. There is no way this boy is not
going to get this truck.

The cost for this chocolatada was:

Toys - $82.91

Candy – 11.77

Paneton – 29.42

Entertainment – 52.94

Transportation – 39.12

Total - $216.16

We want to thank Chris Raupe, Denny Wallette and “a
friend in America” for sponsoring this chocolatada.

Monday, December 12, 2016

…but I’m not
sure what town I was in. It was either Mocupe or Nuevo (new) Mocupe. There is a
difference. Mocupe sits in a valley close to a river originating in the
mountains to the east and emptying into the Pacific Ocean, about 6 miles’
distant. Quite a few years ago during an El Nino the river flooded and
destroyed much of the town. Many of the residents moved to higher ground, about
1 ¼ miles to the north, and Nuevo Mocupe was born. In the meantime, some of the
more optimistic villagers began rebuilding the original town, and so today
there are two Mocupes…not that it matters because everyone who lives in the
area simply says Mocupe. Except for those who say Ucupe, which as I understand
it was an ancient Moche culture town that stood just to the west of Nuevo
Mocupe. All that remains of Ucupe is some archeological ruins.

The birthday
we attended was a typical Peruvian birthday with lots of loud music, food, drinking
and dancing. Some of the dancing was influenced by the town of Zana, located
nearby. In the 1600s and early 1700s Zana’s population was mostly slaves
brought from Africa. After a couple of manmade and natural disasters much of
the Spanish and native population relocated, leaving the area to the black
slaves. They developed their own customs and culture, including a variety of
dances. The ancestors of the slaves are still in Zana today and their dances
are seen throughout the Lambayeque Region and beyond.

Slave dances
are lively affairs and have certain movements that are normally associated with
them. Usually the dances are performed by experienced performers, but at
parties, after the alcohol has been flowing for a while it’s not unusual to see
villagers doing their version of a slave dance.

With a
little imagination it is not difficult to see through the smiles of these
dancers and realize that a slave is being punished.

Another
classic slave dance movement is more difficult to explain. A length of material
or paper is attached to the back of a dancer, apparently representing a tail. A
second dancer tries to ignite the tail. I do not know what this movement,
called Prendeme la vela is supposed to represent.

The food
served at the party was cabrito…goat with beans and rice. The beverages were
beer, and a Peruvian cocktail called Chilcano. The ingredients are pisco (a
Peruvian wine though it tastes more like whiskey to me) and ginger ale, at a 1
to 1 ratio. Add a splash of lime juice and some ice cubes and you’re good to
go. Warning…the ginger ale softens the harshness of pisco, but does not negate
its effect.

At one point
in the evening, no doubt after having patriotically consumed his/her fair share
of Chilcanos, someone decided that I looked like Bruce Willis. After due
consideration others agreed. That triggered a series of ‘selfies with Bruce’. I
wonder how many Facebooks I was on yesterday morning?

Saturday, December 10, 2016

I hadn’t realized how poor the neighborhood of San
Francisco, Campodonico here in Chiclayo really is until I took the time to walk
around it this morning while the women were setting up for the chocolatada. It is
one of several areas in the city that visitors would probably label as a slum.

When we arrived at 10:00 AM little preparation had been done.
When our taxi arrived a bust of activity
took place, with mothers and kids coming from all directions, most bringing
plates, chairs and other things with them. We later learned that they were not
sure we would really come, and didn´t want to disappoint the kids if we didn´t
show up. Their doubts quickly disappeared when we took the candy, panetone and
toys out of the bags.

We had to leave before the toys were distributed and the traditional
chocolatada meal was served, but not before taking photos and receiving the
appreciation of mothers and kids. There was not room in the small building for a group photo including everyone, and it was too hot outside. This was a happy group of people, and
we think this chocolatada is going to last far into the afternoon. They will
enjoy and remember it for a long time.

The cost of this project was:

Panetone - $29.33

Candy – 20.41

Toys – 86.26 (21 toys at an average cost of $4.11)

Transport – 4.49

Total - $140.49

This chocolatada was financed by Chris Raupe and Denny
Wallette. Chris and Denny, an entire neighborhood in Chiclayo knows who you are
and thanks you for what you´ve done for them.

Others folks have contributed to the remaining three chocolatadas
this month. The next one is El Carmen on the 16th. Stand by for
photos.

Friday, December 9, 2016

Exactly 4018 days ago, on December 9, 2005 at 6:15 am I arrived
at the Chiclayo, Peru airport. Now…I’ve made a lot of bad decisions and wrong
moves in my life but arriving in Chiclayo on that day was not one of them. But
let me back up just a bit. In early 2010 I began writing a memoir. I’m still
working on it. I’ve made a lot of revisions between then and now, but what hasn’t
changed is the very first paragraph of the first chapter. It reads:

“Though I
didn’t know it at the time, an email I sent on Saturday, September 3, 2005 at
approximately 3:00 PM would mark the beginning of what I’ve come to view as the
second phase of my life. The first phase lasted exactly 64 years 8 months and
12 days; the last few years of which had been especially rough with a divorce,
forced early retirement, a ton of money lost in the tech stock crash, and more
recently a relationship that was on its last legs. No…even if I had known that
that period of my life was passing I wouldn’t have mourned it one bit. In fact
I would have celebrated. I would have had an even bigger celebration if I had
known that the coming years were going to more than make up for what I’d gone
through and give me greater happiness than I could ever have imagined. Every
day is better than the last. And that’s the truth.”

So much (all?) of our lives is governed by chance…a chain of
events in that if one little event in that chain had changed, our lives would
be dramatically different. I had a friend in Miami; Dino, who had developed an
internet relationship with a woman in Chiclayo. He wanted to go there to meet
her, and though he spoke Spanish he didn’t want to go alone so asked me to join
him. I didn’t speak Spanish and didn’t even know where Peru was. As an inducement,
he sent me a photo and email address of a friend of the woman he was
communicating with. Her name was Maribel and for the next two months we sent
emails back and forth using Google translator. I felt comfortable and so did
Maribel. I told Dino I was in and to make the flight and hotel arrangements,
which he did.

Going back to my memoir again:

“When Dino phoned a week before our scheduled departure to say he
couldn’t go I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t speak the language and don’t
know anything about the country, culture or customs. How could I even get to
Chiclayo without speaking Spanish? And if I did get there do Maribel and I just
smile and nod at each other for the next seventeen days? What if I get sick? Do
they even have hospitals and doctors there, and if they do how can I get to
them or I tell them what’s wrong with me? These were the questions going
through my mind as I sat at the picnic table next to the patio deck. A friend
had sent an Oleta Adams CD to me and it was playing on the stereo system
inside. I was only half-listening when I heard the lyrics “…and if you get the choice to sit it out or
dance, I hope you dance.” I had pretty much made up my mind I was going,
but those words put the period to it. Too many times in my life I had let
indecisiveness control me. I would go to Peru….I was going to dance.

The plane touched down in Lima at 11:30pm on December 8, 2005. It took
me awhile to get settled down enough to figure out where immigration and customs
were located and what I had to do to get through them but it wasn’t too bad.
The only problem I had was my luggage somehow had gotten misplaced but I
finally located it. It’s a big airport and there were hundreds of people
milling about - seemingly half of them shouting “Taxi Senior?” at me. Feeling
that it would be impolite to ignore them I responded ‘no’, and with my hand
imitated a plane taking off while saying “Chiclayo!” Brilliant, huh?

The plane for Chiclayo wouldn’t depart until 5:15 AM so I had lots of
time to kill. I sat in a chair and tried to sleep a bit but mostly I just
watched, trying to develop an understanding for what I was seeing in this
strange country. About an hour before the plane was to leave I found myself in
a restroom shaving, and experienced the only moment of doubt during the entire
trip. I looked at that tired face staring back at me from the mirror and
asked…” Tom, what the hell are you doing?”

I arrived at the Chiclayo airport at 6:30 AM on December 9th. For having spent 8 hours in 3 different
airports and 9 hours in the air with virtually no sleep I wasn’t feeling too
bad. Standing at the luggage carousel I could see maybe 30 people outside
waiting for other passengers. Maribel wasn’t one of them. After a few minutes
more and still no Maribel I began to wonder. What if this whole thing was a joke?
What if Dino, with the help of Maribel (if that was her real name, and if she
even lived in Peru and if she even existed) had put together a gigantic hoax? I
could picture him laughing his ass off at this exact moment, knowing I’d be
standing in the Chiclayo airport without a clue in the world as to what to do
next.

So now what? Do I try to find my way to some hotel?
I had no Idea what hotel I supposedly had reservations at or how I would get
there. Do I try to communicate with someone in the airport to see if I can get
on the next plane to Lima? The phone call to Miami to hire a hit man to take
out Dino could wait until later. Grabbing my last piece of luggage off the
carousel I took one more look outside and there she was. In the back of my mind
I had wondered if maybe the photos she had emailed to me were old or not even
her. I should have known better. Standing in front of me was a beautiful woman
with that same genuine smile I had seen in the first photo. I walked directly
up to her, said hello and kissed her full on the lips. Maribel smiled and said
“Welcome to Chiclayo Tom.” She was wearing a white blouse, red slacks and held
a blue helium balloon that read Happy Birthday. My 65th birthday
would occur in Peru in 3 more days. Happy birthday to me!”

Now it’s eleven years
later. I’m still in Peru and about to celebrate my 76th birthday. This
morning we ate breakfast at the Don Benny restaurant where we were on that
first morning. Then we walked to the principal park and watched the Christmas decorations
being put up, as we did eleven years ago. While walking home we stopped at a
Topitop store. Maribel bought a dress and blouse. I bought two shirts. We didn’t
do that eleven years ago but it felt like the thing to do. Tonight we’ll go out
for dinner, wearing some of our new clothing and continuing to reminisce about
that first day together and the fantastic years since. Every day is better than
the last. And that’s the truth.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

All four chocolatadas are fully funded, thanks to some
folks who stepped forward in response to our recent request for help. That
means 71 kids in four different villages will be getting toys, panetone, candy
and a decent meal. Two of the villages; Alto Peru and El Carmen will have live
entertainment. Los Bances and the vaso de leche program in San Francisco, Campodonico
were last-minute decisions so their chocolatadas, because of time and finances will
be scaled down, but that beats no Chocolatada at all.

The dates of the chocolatadas are:

Saturday, December 10 - San Francisco, Campodonico

Friday, December 16 – El Carmen

Monday, December 19 – Los Bances and Alto Peru

We’re close to finishing all the buying, organizing,
sorting and trying to find room in our house for all of this stuff. It’s a good
thing Brian is at the university because he couldn’t get into his room. We
haven’t sorted out all of the costs yet but it looks like we’ll be under our
estimates.

The
parent’s association in Alto Peru and El Carmen have told us that several
villagers have volunteered the use of their homes for the chocolatada and have
CD players available and people who know how to operate them. This last item
has often been a problem at past chocolatadas. Much of the entertainer’s
routines requires music.

There
won’t be any more school projects this year so the four chocolatadas will wrap
up 2016. Any further donations received will be held for projects next year.

We’ll
be posting photos of the chocolatadas and thanking those responsible for
contributing to them. As always, we wish that the people who contributed could
be with us to feel the excitement and accept the appreciation. It’s been a good
year, and being able to finish it with four chocolatadas is the pièce de
résistance. Thank you.